Banksia moth

This Caterpillar is spectacular in appearance. The head capsule and the body are brown, and the sides of the body are marked with white. There are white patches on the thorax, white diagonal lines on the abdomen, and white dots all over. These white markings are yellow on early instars. There is a black dorsal horn on the eighth abdominal segment, behind which the abdomen is swollen and grey-blue in colour. Early instars appear to have a disproportionately large head, and sparse thick black hairs. Later instars lose many of the thick hairs. The caterpillar grows to a length of 6 cms.